Turkey & Sweet Potato Skillet

I love Mondays. Most people don’t. I think Monday is a great day to start fresh. It’s a new week and one of the best things about Monday – is that it’s a great day to start any diet or just buckle down on some clean eating after a weekend of indulging. This Turkey & Sweet Potato Skillet is one of my favorite weeknight meals because it’s healthy – it’s good – it’s hearty – it’s easy – and the leftovers are even better.

Now when I met the hubs exactly 12 years ago, he didn’t even know that ground turkey existed. And this man definitely loves beef. Well…I converted him and he has grown to really enjoy ground turkey – and this dish specifically (he still prefers beef – but for health reasons…he’s happy with turkey). My toddler eats a plate full of this stuff and that makes me a happy camper. It’s a staple dinner item in our house and I usually reserve it for busy evenings when I don’t feel like making a mess in the kitchen (skillet meals are the best – it’s one pan to wash!)

This recipe I’m giving you today is actually doubled (that’s how I usually make it). It makes enough for about 6-8 servings. But you can easily cut in half if needed.

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Extra Lean Ground Turkey

2-3 Medium Sized Sweet Potatoes

3 Bell Peppers (any color)

3 Cloves Garlic

1/4 c. Olive Oil (separated)

1/2 c. Water

3 tbsp. Chili Powder

1 tbsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Onion Powder

1 1/2 c. Mozzarella Cheese (shredded)

Directions:

Start by washing and cutting up the produce. Peel the potatoes and chop them. Bell peppers should be cut about the same size as the potatoes – Bite size or so. Mince the garlic.

Heat up a large skillet and drizzle in a little olive oil. Add your garlic and get it stirred around for a minute. Add the ground turkey and season it with a little salt and pepper.

Brown the turkey till it’s almost done. Add the chopped bell peppers.

Continue cooking and add all the seasonings. Stir everything in until all the seasonings are nicely distributed.

About 10 minutes into cooking the potatoes – lift the lid and add half of the mozzarella cheese. Stir it in. Cover again and let the potatoes continue to cook for another 15 minutes until they’re nice and tender.

Once the potatoes are completely cooked (you should be able to put a fork through) – top the skillet with the remaining cheese and stick it back in the oven for another 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.

After the cheese is melted, pull it out of the oven and sprinkle it with a handful of freshly chopped parsley.

And just like that. Dinner is done!

This is truly a one dish meal. But feel free to serve this with a green salad if you want some greens in your life (like in addition to the parsley). To keep my leftover lunches simple, I like to heat up a bag of frozen peas or broccoli as a little side veggie for this leftover lunch (getting some veggies in makes me feel like a responsible adult).

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Love Story

Once upon a time…in the enchanted land of Harlingen, Texas, my Prince "Farming" picked me up at my parents house in his white chariot (Ford pick-up). He was actually trying to redeem himself from being a no-show with mutual friends a few nights before. He came to the front door and I think I opened it before he had a chance to ring the door bell. Now if my life was a Nicholas Sparks movie, everything would slow down right here and the music would start. You see, this was the first time we ever looked at each other face to face. That's right - blind date. We chatted on the phone and I had a general idea of what he looked like and vice versa. But we actually laid on eyes on each other for the first time ever, standing there at the threshold of my parents front door. After I wiped the drool from my face and picked my jaw up off the floor, I played it totally cool and threw my parents a wave and said "be back later" before they could interrupt. And so I was whisked away to our local Chili's Bar & Grill. And because neither of us were ready to call it a night we turned our first date into dinner AND a movie. Neither one of us remembers what we saw that night because we were too busy holding hands and…holding hands (oh come on, it was the first date!). After that night, I knew this was the beginning of something great.

The Farm

Our farm is located at the Southern tip of Texas. We farm in Cameron & Hidalgo counties (in agriculture counties are like your social security number). We farm grain sorghum, cotton and sesame. Our farm is 100% dry land so our only source of moisture is rain. Before my farm wife days, I never realized how important weather is to agriculture. To me rainy days were for movies and sunny days were for tanning. And then I married a farmer. And now I know that rain can make or break a crop. It's stressful man.